


Matched

by wrothmothking



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon Compliant, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 16:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16308602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrothmothking/pseuds/wrothmothking
Summary: There's an ache in his back and a warmth in his heart.





	Matched

He's not stalking her, he's just--checking in, making sure she's okay. He sure as hell isn't.

She's in a bikini in one of her photos. His eyes zero in on her hip, looking for his name, and it's not there. He tilts his phone one way then another, but it's useless. Anne no longer has his mark. He wonders if it faded away the moment she realized he'd betrayed her, or if it had lingered for days, taunting her.

Hers still haunts him, a dark shadow branding his clavicle. He doesn't want it to go, flinches away from the very thought of it, but with Anne having rejected their match its days are limited.

It's only been a month. Since he moved out--was forced out. Maybe she already has _Derek_ trailing down her spine or _Nathan_ curling over her shoulder blade or _Michael_ dancing up her calf. Or maybe he was her one match, and she'll be blank and missing pieces forever because he went and fucked it up. Maybe, in a year, they'll fall back together and his name'll come back, maybe in the same spot, maybe in a new one.

He just hopes she'll be happy. It's the least she deserves.

* * *

Venom doesn't understand soulmates. It takes Eddie explaining twice gently and thrice angrily before he accepts that Anne is out of his--their--reach and perfectly happy with her new match, Dan, who was unfortunately too great a guy for Eddie to feel all that bitter about it.

_"Mate or no mate, you're mine first and only,"_ Venom'd said at last, and Eddie couldn't argue. Much as he would always love Anne, there isn't room in his life for her anymore, not as anything more than a sometimes-distant friend. Between journalism, vigilante work, and keeping Venom fed, not to mention constantly talking to Venom and bonding with the clingy parasite, well, it was a good thing Eddie'd never had a social life.

He orders one ticket at the movies. When there's no one else in the back row, Venom's face curls around his shoulder to watch through his own eyes; Eddie loves it, loves being able to watch the symbiote react to what's happening on the screen.

Black tendrils curl between his fingers when he's feeling lonely or nervous and sometimes just 'cause. He can tell, can feel, that the contact soothes Venom as much as it does him. Knowing they can never be alone again is different from having physical proof of it.

They banter. They play. They eat a few gangsters and give money and care freely.

So, perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise when Eddie starts to develop... _Feelings_. Venom must know, must guess, but neither of them broach the subject. A stupid, self-sabotaging part of Eddie says they've already been dating for months--or, at least, that's what it would say if Eddie allowed the thought to form. He's good at compartmentalizing like that.

So, the feelings just sit there, belligerent, glaring at him from the little cage he's stuck them in in the back of his mind.

It all comes to a head on a sunny, wintry day. The sun is blinding, the air stubbornly chill, the wind bracing as it burns through his bones. He swears he feels Venom shiver, curled up with his guts. San Francisco is no New York, but cold is cold.

They take refuge in a grocery. Any respite was worth the time wasted, and besides, they were low on tater tots.

_"Baby."_

"Shut up."

_"Infant."_

"Like you're not cold, too."

_"I'm not. Wanna know what_ is _cold? Space."_

With a roll of his eyes, Eddie filled his basket with one last chocolate bar and approached the counter. It was a wonder he indulged the parasite, with this attitude.

**_"Parasite?!"_ **

He hadn't said a damn thing.

The first alley after, black enveloped him from all sides, though he remained in full control. It was like a hug, or a coat given by the date. It made something small and sad and sentimental unfurl inside his rib cage, and all those feelings sequestered away came roaring to the forefront with impressive fury.

Venom said something. Said another thing--or a repeat of the same--louder.

All Eddie could make out was the sharp tingle in his back, infesting his shoulder blades and his neck.

Eddie doesn't remember getting home. He doesn't remember putting the groceries away, doesn't remember making nachos and marathoning some horror show.

When he does come back to himself, it's long since gone dark outside. And there's an ache in his back and a warmth in his heart.

He slams into the bathroom. Venom watches from the mirror, uncharacteristically silent, as he shovels handfuls of water into his face. Panting, he braces himself on the counter and meets his eyes. His all-white eyes. No pupil, no iris, strange and alien and impossible.

Whoever it is, he doesn't want them. He's already complete. No one else could compare, could give him the closeness and total understanding Venom does.

_"Sap."_

Eddie smiles; it's a sharp, brittle thing. There'll be no boarding this up, not now that Eddie's admitted it. Even if not out loud, Venom still heard him.

**_"Stop hiding from me."_ **

"Sorry. Old habits, love."

_"Tch. Love you, too. Now, let me_ see _."_

"You love me?"

Venom just stared at him.

Eddie unzipped his hoodie and neatly folded it. Slowly, in the world's most miserable strip tease, he pulled his t-shirt over his head. Their reflection changed to Eddie's image in a blink, and his eyes caught upon a name on his chest, curling over his ribs.

"What?" A second mark wasn't all that uncommon, but for him not to feel it, for it to be his own name... _Wait._

Half-turning in the mirror, Eddie gasped. There, branded across his upper back in large, Gothic font was VENOM.

_"I thought as much."_

Smug bastard. How the hell was he supposed to keep this under wraps?

**_"Easy: You're not."_ **


End file.
